Quick Facts
Biography
Dr. Gothamie Weerakoon (Sinhala: ගෝතමී වීරකෝන්) is a Sri Lankan based botanist, lichenologist and environmentalist who currently resides in London. She is the first South Asian woman scientist to hold the Annual Grantee award from the National Geographic Society. She currently works as the senior curator of Lichens and Slime Moulds at the Natural History Museum of London and also with tea brand, Dilmah.
Career
After completing her primary education at the Devi Balika Vidyalaya in Colombo, she attended the University of Colombo, completing her PhD in 2013 at the Sri Jayawardenepura University. She emerged as the most active Sri Lanka's lichen researcher on lichens. She has conducted researches on South Asian lichens, discovering over 100 new species, endemic to Sri Lanka. Some of the species she has discovered include Heterodermia queesnberryi and Polymeridium fernandoi. In 2015, she wrote Fascinating Lichens of Sri Lanka, which provides unknown facts about lichen species endemic to Sri Lanka.